Letter writer Thai Eng Lang said that he did not feel any taller after the successful landing of our first angkasawan. However, I do feel a few inches taller.

The writer wrote of the wastage of taxpayer money in the space programme. There are many wastage of money by the public which he should worry about. Malaysians spent more than RM6 billion a year on smoking alone. All of that money goes up in smoke. That does not include untold billions of ringgit in medical bills forked up by the public in government hospitals to take care of these smokers' health.

When the first Penang bridge was built, the same thing was said about it - a white elephant. But almost 30 years after, it is heavily used and now we need a second bridge. I wonder where all the critics have gone.

I can go on to cite many other example of public money being wasted - Port Klang Free Zone , Perwaja, etc. For those who care about using public funds wisely, there are many other wastage that they should worry about.

The benefits of the space programme in Malaysia far outweigh the cost and we will see the results not only in near term but especially long term. Can you see the glowing eyes of the school children as they see the microgravity experiments performed aboard ISS? That, money cannot buy. These will encourage them to go into science and technology and will build this nation in the future.